August 21, 2018 - Shepherd Filters

At Shepherd Filters, our mission is simple: “To educate and provide the foodservice industry with a highly effective and environmentally friendly kitchen grease filter alternative that dramatically reduces hazardous grease build-up in commercial kitchens daily.” Metal kitchen grease filters are the first line of protection to prevent a kitchen exhaust extraction system from grease accumulation. As a result, this leads to mechanical failures, decreased airflow and a potential fire risk. Therefore, commercial kitchens clean metal filters in-house or use a filter exchange company. This is done on a daily – monthly basis which can be: Too frequent or not frequent enoughTime consumingCostly in labour and chemicalsA waste of waterUnnecessary exposure to unpleasant chemicalsEnvironmentally unfriendly The unfortunate thing about all of this is that typically, these metal filters only stop 20-40% of grease! This invites the rest to pass through into the hood/canopy, duct, fan and roof spaces, resulting in a costly ongoing mess. According to Australian Standards, the grease that accumulates within the rest of the exhaust extraction system should, therefore, be checked and cleaned as required. This can be on a monthly, quarterly or half-yearly basis. This is usually outsourced to a contractor, attracting various costs. It cannot be denied that is also a very messy process. What is the process?Pilot lights and gas valves on appliances are shut down before covering them with tarps. This will protect them from being splattered with grease and/or cleaning chemicals. Before the kitchen exhaust system is sprayed with chemicals and hot water, it is wrapped in poly plastic to create a funnel container that catches greasy water.Once the kitchen has been prepared, kitchen baffle filters are removed and soaked in cleaning chemicals for a couple of hours. The solution loosens grease build-up before they are pressure washed to blast away hardened grease.In the meantime, a kitchen hood cleaning contractor must venture up into the often-confined spaces to manually scrape thick grease build-up from the insides of ducts (and getting very dirty in the process). This procedure is then repeated on the hood/canopy.After hardened grease has been removed, a chemical mixture is sprayed and allowed to sit for 30 minutes to an hour. The kitchen exhaust fan is then removed and sprayed with cleaning chemicals from top to bottom.During this time, they may also change the fan belt before cleaning down to the bare metal through pressure washing. Once the cleaning chemicals have done their job and loosened hardened grease, the contractor will blast out any remaining grease with a pressure washer.Since the contractor sprays from top to bottom, the greasy water runs down and collects in the plastic funnel made earlier. This messy exercise is usually done at night once the kitchen has cooled down post-service. This can also be done in the early hours of the morning.It doesn’t stop there. Sadly, poor and inadequate cleaning can be done, wasting good money! But still leaving kitchen exhaust systems exposed to fire risk. I know what you are thinking… “There must be an easier way…!” Enter the Shepherd Filters solution. Revolutionary within the Kitchen Exhaust & Ventilation System Duct Cleaning market. As part of our mission, we are changing the way the industry operates. We aim to make it better by introducing a smarter, cleaner and more environmentally friendly option.Our filters are made from 100% fire retardant and sustainable wool. Our disposable oil and grease filters capture up to 98% of airborne grease before it has the chance to penetrate the exhaust system. As a result, it reduces grease that accumulates inside the hoods, ducts and fan. Leaving operators with a cleaner kitchen exhaust system all year round! We help increase your savings that is spent on routine cleaning, mechanical failures and the risk of fire will diminish. We have looked into a problem every restaurant faces and explained our mission to resolve it.Now it is time to fix this costly and messy issue once and for all, so that you canget on with what is important: “Keeping your customers fed and happy!” Contact us today!

Shepherd Filters Solution – Our Mission Explained